Delas Freres Hermitage les Bessards 2020 (750ML)

97+ JD / 97-98 VM / 95-97 WA / 97 JS / 96 DE / 17.5+ JR

The 2020 Hermitage Les Bessards is a behemoth, with palate-saturating levels of fruit and texture while it still stays pure, focused, and mineral-laced, with a classic Hermitage personality. Blue fruits, truffle, burning embers, sappy spring flowers, and liquid rock-like notes all define the aromatics, and it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, ripe, polished, yet building tannins, and a gorgeous finish. As with all of Jacques’ wines today, there's a certain polish and accessibility, yet this incredible Hermitage deserves 5-7 years in the cellar, and I'd be shocked to see it not have 30 years of overall longevity.—Jeb Dunnuck

Inky violet. Displays assertive aromas of blackcurrant, cherry-cola and violet, along with olive, smoked meat and vanilla nuances that gain strength with aeration. Vibrant, focused and appealingly sweet, offering intense, mineraldriven black and blue fruit, floral pastille and smoky bacon flavors that become deeper and spicier as the wine opens up. The floral note comes back strong on the impressively long, penetrating finish, which features youthfully chewy tannins and exotic spice notes. Long-established and quite large, Delas Frères has been on a roll for a good decade or more, and the quality has improved since they moved to their new, state-of-the-art winery in the heart of Tain l’Hermitage just before the 2019 harvest. I consider the 2019s and 2020s to be the strongest sets of wines here. Especially the 2020s, which are impressively fresh and balanced across the board, with the energy to reward patience. The Hermitage bottlings are the winery's pride, and in recent vintages, they can be counted among the appellation's top wines. - By Josh Raynolds, Vinous Media

Looking terrific out of barrel, the 2020 Hermitage Les Bessards boasts classic aromas of crushed stone, black cherries and cassis on the nose. It's full-bodied, perhaps a touch warm, but with wonderfully silky, rich tannins and a long, licorice-tinged finish. It should drink well for close to two decades.—Joe Czerwinski, The Wine Advocate

This giant Hermitage has remarkable meaty power, smoky mystery and inky depth. It is matched by the bold and refined structure on the wide-screen palate. The tannins slowly swell to a stunning crescendo at the fabulous finish, yet there is nothing overdone about this extraordinary wine. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.—James Suckling

Cask sample. Deepest crimson. Closed but rich in black fruit. Dark and a little charry. Sweet damson too. On the palate, savoury, dense, compact. Big but rounded tannins. Power and incipient complexity. Chewy and long. –Julia Harding MW, Jancis Robinson